Hunters & Slayers Volume I: Power
by TheMultiFandomFangirl
Summary: When Bobby's sister, a fellow hunter, dies, it's up to him to make sure her daughter is safe. When his niece starts hunting with Dean and John Winchester, will he still be able to guarantee her safety? WARNING! THIS WILL STAR AN OC! Sam/OC pairing. If you don't like it, please don't read.
1. Prologue

**A/N: This is set during season one of Supernatural. The story will be sticking to the plot of Supernatural. WARNING! THIS STARS AN OC! I know some people don't like OC's but I do. It's a Sam/OC pairing and will be fluffy and angsty so if you feel like this isn't for you, DON'T READ IT! LEAVE NOW! If you think this **_**is **_**for you, then please sit back and enjoy. Reviews are always appreciated.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, unfortunately ;-;**

**PROLOGUE**

_**One year ago...**_

It was nearly 1am when Bobby got the call. He'd never in his life heard his neice sound so frantic. She was crying, that much was obvious. She was sobbing so hard that Bobby could barely understand what she was saying.

"Ivy-Jade?" He asked into the reciever even though he knew it was her "Ivy darlin' what is it?"

The sobbing died down to sniffles as Ivy whispered into the phone, "_it's mom._"

Bobby frowned. He hadn't spoken to his sister in years. He kept in contact with Ivy, she was his only neice after all, but not her mother. In facct, when Liz left the hunting life, she cut all ties with Bobby. The only problem was that Ivy always loved her Uncle Bobby and refused to stop talking to him, especially since he got rid of the 'monster' under her be when she was six.

"What about her?" He asked, although after being a hunter your entire life, you learn to expect the worst.

"_Sh-she's dead._" Ivy's voice broke as she said it. She still didn't want to believe it herself, but it's kind of hard to ignore when you come home to find your mother's blood drained and her throat ripped out.

"What? How?" Bobby asked. He was upset that his sister was dead but he couldn't grieve. He had to look after Ivy.

"_V-vampires I think. The police said it was a bear attack but..._" she sobbed again.

"Good girl. Are you alone?"

"_Yes, but I don't wanna be. Uncle Bobby, can you come and get me? You're the only one who understands. I need to be with family and you're all I have._"

Bobby sighed and said "sweetie, even if I leave right now, I won't be there for another four days, minimum." Ivy let out a small noise that sounnded a lot like another whimper. "Look, I know a pair of hunters that are in the area. I know you don't know them, but I trust them with my life. They're as close to me as if they really were family. What about I send them to pick you up?"

"_How will I know who they are? What are their names?_"

"John and Dean Winchester."

John and Dean had just stopped in at Bobby's after finishing a hunt. John insisted that it was just to see if Bobby had a case, but he and Dean both knew it was because they wanted to checkon Ivy. At first, she was silent. Grieving. They understood that. After time, she started being more comfortable around the Winchesters as well as just Bobby. She told them about her life and her family, they told her about Sam and Mary.

When they heard Bobby and Ivy shouting, they knew they'd come at a bad time but they also knew they'd have to intervene.

"I'M NOT LETTING YOU GO OFF ON YOUR OWN IVY-JADE MARIE CARRIGAN!" They heard Bobby yell.

"SO I'LL FIND A PARTNER!" Ivy retorted.

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT! YOU DON'T HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE HUNTING WITHOUT YOUR PARENTS!"

Suddenly, the Winchester boys knew what they were arguing about.

"WEL HOW CAN I GET ANY EXPERIENCE ON MY OWN IF YOU WON'T EVEN LET ME TRY?!"

"Guys, guys, calm down!" John said as the two men entered the room.

"I can go with them!" Ivy suddenly excalimed.

"Ivy, you can't hunt with us," Dean told her.

"And why not?" She had her hands on her hips and a serious look on her face.

"Because...because you're Ivy!" He threw his hands in the air in annoyance. "Look, you're Bobby's neice so you're like family to me by default. I don't want you getting hurt."

"And if I'm with you and John, I won't be," she argued. "What do you say? Please John, please Uncle Bobby?" She looked up at Bobby with hopeful eyes. The old hunter rolled his eyes.

"Fine." He huffed.

"Okay," John nodded.

It'd been a year since she joined John and Dean. They were her family now. She and Dean both got concerned when John hadn't checked in with them in a while and Dean decided there was only one option.

It was time to get Sam.


	2. Woman In White

Dean parked the Impala out the front of the large campus. Stanford. This is what Sammy left him for? Study sessions and library books? It'd been nearly four years since Dean's last seen his little brother. Nearly four years since their dad told Sam to stay, or leave and never come back. So Sam left. Dean still couldn't believe that his little brother, his Sammy, had just up and left him for school of all things. They were family and family should always come first. That's why he was here right now. He'd been hunting with his dad and Ivy for a while now, but his dad hasn't come back from his last hunting trip. Sure, Dean had Ivy with him, but it wasn't the same. Not quite. Ivy was like a sister to him, yes, and he'd promised Bobby he'd look out for her, sure, but right now, Dean needed his brother with him.

"Dean…are you sure this is the right thing to do?" the shorter girl asked. Dean let out a long sigh and looked over at her.

"No. Probably not, but it's what I need." He told her honestly and got out of the car.

They quickly made their way to the dorm room which was on the third floor and, as quietly as he could, dean crouched down before the door and got out his lock pick. Once it was unlocked, Dean pushed the door slightly and it swung open with a slight creak. He turned his head back to look at Ivy cockily and gave her a dimpled smile.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it's done." He said, brushing his hands on his jeans and standing up to his full height. Ivy rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get this over and done with." She said giving dean a slight push. The two of them walked into the small dorm and began looking for Sam when someone extremely tall with freakishly long arms came out of nowhere and began to grapple with Dean. Fists were flying, and even a few kicks were attempted but both men managed to avoid all of the hits. Dean managed to get the guy pinned to the ground and smirked.

"Whoa, easy, tiger." Dean teased. The guy below him frowned in confusion and then realisation.

"Dean?" the guys sounded surprised. "You scared the crap out of me."

"That's because you're out of practice." Dean said and in response, the taller male just rolled them over so he was the one pinning Dean to the ground. "Or not. Get off me." Dean said, although he was still smiling.

The taller guy stood up before pulling Dean up too.

"Um, am I right to assume this is the infamous Sammy?" Ivy asked and the aforementioned man's head spun around to look at where the voice came from. A girl he didn't recognise was also standing there. She had brown hair that fell in loose curls over her shoulders, she was kinda short and had the biggest brown eyes Sam had ever seen.

"It's Sam. Who are you?" he responded shortly.

"I'm Ivy-Jade. I've been hunting with Dean and…" she hesitated, knowing it was a touchy subject "your dad."

"Whatever. Look, Dean, why are you here?"

"Well, I was looking for a beer." Dean replied, ever the smartass.

"What the _hell_ are you doing here?" Sam just said in a more serious tone.

"Okay, alright. We gotta talk." Dean nodded.

"Uh, the phone?"

"If I'd have called, would you've picked up?"

Before Sam could say anything, the light flicked on and a girl's voice called out shyly "Sam?"

Everyone's heads turned to the doorway, only to see a lean blonde standing there in colourful striped pyjama shorts and a grey _The Smurfs _t-shirt on.

"Jess, hey." Sam said and turned to look back at dean. "Dean, Ivy, this is my girlfriend Jessica."

"Wait. Your brother, Dean?" the girl, Jessica, asked taking a step towards the other three.

"I love The Smurfs." Dean said, gesturing to the shirt she was wearing and walking towards her. "You know, I gotta tell you, you are completely out of my brother's league."

Jess scoffed while Sam and Ivy rolled their eyes.

"Just let me put something on." Jess said, glancing at Sam.

"No, no. No, I wouldn't dream of it." Dean said in fake innocence. "Seriously." He added and then walked back over to Sam. "Anyway, I gotta borrow your boyfriend, talk about some private family business. Nice meeting you."

Jess gave a small smile and glanced at Sam again.

"No." Sam said and stood beside Jess. "Whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her."

Dean internally groaned. Why did his brother have to be so…righteous?

"Sam, this is important." Ivy commented.

"No offence, but I don't know you." Sam snapped. Ivy raised her hands in mock surrender and looked at Dean, raising her eyebrows and giving him a look that said 'is-he-for-real?' Dean shrugged and looked back at Sam.

"Okay. Um, dad hasn't been home in a few days."

"So he's working overtime on a Miller-time shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later." Sam said, clearly not caring.

"Dad's on a hunting trip." Dean urged. "And he hasn't been home in a few days."

Sam's expression of nonchalance became one of concern.

"Jess, excuse us." He said to his girlfriend, his worried gaze never leaving his brother's serious one. "We have to go outside."

With that, Sam left Jess' side and ushered Dean and Ivy out.

"Okay, so what do you want me to do about it?" Sam asked the pair as they made their way towards the staircase.

"Come with me and help find him." Dean said as if it should be obvious.

"Are you serious?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Damn right I'm serious."

"I mean, come on, you can't just break in, in the middle of the night and expect me to hit the road with you and some random girl." Sam argued as the three walked down the stairs hastily.

"You're not hearing me, Sammy. Dad's missing. I need you to help me find him."

"You remember the Poltergeist in Amherst?" Sam countered "Or the Devil's Gates in Clifton? He was missing then. He's always missing and he's always fine."

"Not for this long." Dean said, getting annoyed at his brother. "Now, are you gonna come with me or not?"

"I'm not."

"Why not?"

"I swore I was done hunting. For good."

"Come on, it wasn't easy but it wasn't that bad."

"Yeah? When I told dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45."

"What was he supposed to do?" dead asked, defending his dad.

"I was nine years old. He was supposed to say 'don't be afraid of the dark'."

"'Don't be afraid of the dark'? Are you kidding me, of course you should be afraid of the dark. You know what's out there." Dean nearly yelled. He was losing his temper quickly. He didn't understand why Sam wasn't worried. Sure, the two had their differences but they were family. Ivy was getting just as frustrated as Dean. Sam's dad was missing and he couldn't care less. Her mom was dead and she'd give anything to have her give her bad advice one more time.

They had stopped just outside the door that led into the car park, but they were still arguing.

"Yeah, I know. But still the way we grew up after mom was killed, and dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her. But we still haven't found the damn thing. So we kill everything we can find."

"We save a lot of people doing it too."

"You think mom would've wanted this for us?"

Dean just pushed open the door roughly and stormed out, Ivy and Sam following him out. Honestly, Dean didn't think this is what their mom would've wanted but it didn't really matter anymore did it?

"The weapons training and melting the silver into bullets. Man, Dean, we were raised like warriors."

"So what are you gonna do? You just gonna live some normal, apple-pie life?" Dean asked, both he and Ivy nearly at their wits end, and stopped walking when he reached the Impala. "Is that it?"

"No. Not normal. Safe."

"And that's why you ran away." Dean muttered, mostly to himself.

"I was just going to college. It was dad who said if I was gonna go, I should stay gone." Sam shook his head. "So that's what I'm doing."

"Bullshit." Ivy muttered to herself. Sam and Dean both looked at her with frowns on their faces. Obviously they heard her.

"Excuse me?" Sam huffed. He didn't even know her, who was she to insult him or judge the way he chose to live his life?

"You heard me. Bull. Shit." She spoke up, wanting him to hear her now. "You're pissed at your dad because he didn't lie to you about monsters under your bed, and the Tooth Fairy, and Santa Clause? Well get over it! He was there for you, and maybe it wasn't what you wanted, but it was what you needed. He cared about you so much, Sam. He still does. You were lucky to have him but you just left because you didn't like the fact that he wanted you around. He didn't want you to leave because he knew that you would be in danger on your own. Family should stick together and right now, you're just turning your back on your family. Stop taking them for granted, Sam, because one day you won't have them anymore." She finished her rant and crossed her arms over her chest, breathing in and out heavily from anger. She was right and both boys knew it, although Sam didn't want to admit it. All he wanted was a normal and safe life. Was that too much to ask for?

"Well, dad's in trouble now, if he's not dead already. I can feel it." Dean said, breaking the tense silence. Another silence followed. "I can't do this alone."

"Yes, you can." Sam sighed and looked at Ivy, who still had an expression of hurt and anger on her face. "Besides, you're not alone. You have Ivy."

"That's not the same." Dean said with a sigh. "I need my brother. And even if I could do it alone…I don't want to."

Sam took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, collecting his thoughts. He knew going with Dean and Ivy was the right thing to do. He knew that there was a very real chance that his dad was in danger. Really, there was only one option.

So, with a long sigh, Sam reluctantly asked; "What was he hunting?"

Instead of answering straight away, Dean walked over to the trunk of his car and opened it up. He pulled up the fake bottom and started searching for something.

"Let's see, where the hell did I put that thing?" Dean muttered to himself.

"So, when dad left, why didn't you go with him?" Sam asked.

"Ivy here was with Bobby and I was working my own gig. This voodoo thing down in New Orleans." Dean replied, smiling to himself.

"Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?" Sam stared at Dean like he just grew an extra head. Dean looked up at Sam like he just said the stupidest thing in the world.

"I'm 26, dude." Dean said and went back to the file he was searching through. "Alright, here we go." He said and pulled out a few pieces of paper. "So dad was checking out this Two-Lane Blacktop just outside of Jericho, California. About a month ago, this guy." Dean handed Sam one of the sheets of paper. "They found his car, but he'd vanished. Completely MIA."

"So maybe he was kidnapped."

"That's what I originally thought, but no such luck." Ivy said.

"Yeah, well. Here's another one in April." Dean passed him another piece of paper. "Another one in December '04, '03, '98, '92." Dean listed, off. "Ten of them over the past twenty years. All men, all the same five-mile stretch of road. It started happening more and more so dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago. We haven't heard from him since, which is bad enough. Then I get this voicemail yesterday." He reached into his pocket and took out his phone, holding it out for Sam to hear.

"Dean, something started to happen. I think it's serious." The voicemail said, although it kept cutting in and out. "I need to try to find out what's going on. Be very careful Dean, we're all in danger."

"You know there's E.V.P on that?" Sam said without hesitation.

"Not bad, Sammy." Dean smirked. He knew Sam wouldn't be able to resist hunting. "It's kinda like riding a bike, isn't it?" Sam rolled his eyes, something Ivy noticed he did a lot. "Alright, I slowed the message down and ran it through a Goldwave, took out the hiss and this is what I got."

Dean pressed play, and a soft, creepy, female voice could be heard whispering "I can never go home."

"'Never go home.'" Sam repeated.

Dean put his phone away and closed the trunk. He leaned back on the car and spoke again.

"In almost two years, I've never bothered you, never asked you for a thing." Dean hinted.

"Alright. I'll go. I'll help you find him. But I have to get back first thing Monday." Sam agreed. "Just wait here." He said and began to walk off.

"What's first thing Monday?" Dean asked.

"I have this…I have an interview."

"What, a job interview? Skip it." Dean shrugged but Ivy could tell from the look on Sam's face that it was something more important.

"It's a law school interview and it's my whole future on a plate."

"Law school?" Dean asked with an incredulous nod.

"So we got a deal or not?"

"Fine." Dean agreed and let Sam go tell Jess.

"Dean, you realise how selfish this is, don't you?" Ivy asked Dean.

"I thought you were on my side." He asked, only half-serious.

"I am, but Sam's worked hard for this. He'll never forgive you if he misses this interview." The brunette told him.

"Yeah." Dean sighed. "I know."

Dean knew there was a possibility that Sam could hate him for this, but it was a chance he needed to take.

The three of them had been driving for nearly eight hours straight before they pulled into a roadhouse. Ivy was nearly half-asleep in the back seat while Sam was looking through Dean's cassette collection in the passenger side. Sam had insisted she sat in the front because he didn't want to intrude, and if the front seat was what she was used to she could sit there. Hell, he wasn't planning on being with them for that long anyway. Ivy declined though. She'd always preferred the back seat; there was more room for her to sleep.

"Hey, you want breakfast?" Dean called, walking out of the store and back to the car holding a bottle of Mountain Dew and a packet of Doritos in one hand and a chocolate bar hanging from his mouth.

"No, thanks." Sam replied.

"Yes please!" Ivy exclaimed in an over-the-top way, as if she hadn't eaten in days. Dean passed her the Doritos through the half wound-down window in the back seat and she gleefully took them.

"So how'd you pay for that stuff? You and dad still running credit-card scams?" Sam asked, still examining the cassettes.

"Yeah, well hunting ain't exactly a pro-ball career. Besides, all we do is apply. It's not our fault they send us the cards."

"Yeah, and what names did you write on the application this time?"

"Uh, Burt Aframian and his son and daughter Hector and Joan." Dean said as he got into the driver's seat. "Scored three cards out of the deal." Dean finished smugly.

"Sounds about right." Sam said with a smile playing at his lips. He turned around and looked at Ivy, who was pigging out on corn chips. "And, you're okay with this?"

Ivy shrugged. "We break the law every day. What's one more felony to the list? Besides, it's this or dying of starvation."

"Can't you just get a job?"

"Okay, fair enough." She nodded. "Then it's either credit card fraud or prostitution." She said in a half-joking manner. Sam was gobsmacked and had no idea what to say. "Sam, I was pretty much born and raised a hunter. I never went to school. I mean, legally, I don't even exist, since there's no birth certificate," she shook her head and continued eating her chips. "My mum tried to quit the life but it kept coming back. Not much they could do about it,"

"Whatever," Sam said and turned back to the cassettes. It wasn't his place to comment. She's just some girl. He doesn't know her and after tomorrow, he would never have to see her again. So why does he care? Instead, he opted for changing the subject. "I swear, man. You've gotta update your cassette-tape collection."

"Why?" Dean asked, like someone just insulted his child.

"Well, for one, they're cassette-tapes. And two; Black Sabbath? Motӧrhead? Metallica? It's the greatest hits of mullet rock."

"Well, house rules, Sammy. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cake hole." Dean said and took out the Metallica cassette, shoving the empty case back into Sam's hands and putting the tape in the stereo.

"You know, 'Sammy' is a chubby twelve-year-old. It's Sam okay?" Sam said to Dean.

"Sorry, I can't hear you," Dean said gesturing to his ear, "the music's too loud." He said feigning innocence and drove off.

Ivy laughed and leaned forward towards Sam so he could hear her.

"You were chubby?" she teased and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Shut up." He said but was still smiling a little bit. Ivy just laughed and leaned back onto the leather seat. "I'm going to call all of the hospitals and morgues in the area, check if dad's at any of 'em."

"You do that." Dean semi-shouted over the music and then continued bobbing his head along to it. Sam just smiled and shook his head before pulling out his phone.

Half an hour and nine phone calls later, and they were at the bridge where the latest 'accident' happened.

"Alright, so there's no one matching dad at the hospital or morgue, so that's something I guess."

"It's a start." Ivy agreed. Dean was about to comment on it, when he noticed the sheriff and other officers on the bridge.

"Check it out." He said and pointed it out to them before pulling slowly to a stop. Dean reached over into the glove-box and pulled out a small tin. He opened the tin, and Sam was shocked to see a bunch of fake ID's and badges. Dean took one out for himself and passed one to Ivy. "Let's go." He said and got out of the car.

Ivy got out of the car too, but then turned back to Sam who was still sitting there gobsmacked and said "you coming or what, Sasquatch?"

Sam sighed and got out of the car.

"No sign of struggle. No footprints. No fingerprints." The three hunters heard one of the officers say. "It's spotless. It's almost too clean."

"So this kid Troy, he's dating your daughter, isn't he?" the sheriff asked.

"Yeah." The other man replied.

"How's Amy doing?"

"She's putting up missing posters downtown."

"You fellas had another one like this just last month, didn't you?" Dean asked, putting on his 'mature' voice and interrupting their conversation.

"And who are you?" the sheriff asked.

"Federal marshals." Dean said, quickly flashing the sheriff his badge.

"You three are a little young for federal marshals, aren't you?"

"Thanks. That's awfully kind of you," Dean said with a chuckle. He walked a little towards the smashed car that was in the middle of the big bridge. "You did have another one just like this, correct?"

"That's right. About a mile up the road. There have been others before that." The sheriff confirmed.

"So this victim, you knew him?" Sam asked. The sheriff nodded.

"In a town like this, everybody knows everybody."

"Any connections between the victims; besides that they're all men?" Dean asked, inspecting the car closely.

"No, not so far as we can tell."

"So what's the theory?" Sam asked.

"Honestly, we don't know. Serial murderer? Kidnapping ring?"

"Well that is exactly the kind of crack police work I'd expect out of you guys." Dean said earning a kick in the foot from Sam and an elbow in the ribs from Ivy.

"Thank you for your time." Sam smiled politely. "Gentlemen." He nodded and the three of them started walking back to the car.

When they were at the end of the bridge, Dean smacked Sam and Ivy over the back of the head. Ivy sniggered and Sam yelped like a little bitch.

"Ow! What was that for?" Sam whispered loudly so they weren't heard.

"Why'd you have to step on my foot?" Dean argued back in the same tone of voice.

"Why do you have to talk to police like that?"

"Come on, they don't really know what's going on." Dean said and stopped walking right in front of Sam, turning to face his brother. "We're all alone on this. I mean if we're gonna find dad, we gotta get to the bottom of this thing ourselves."

Sam looked over Dean's shoulder and cleared his throat. Dean and Ivy turned around and saw two FBI agents standing behind them with another sheriff.

"Can I help you people?" the sheriff asked.

"No, sir. We were just leaving." Dean said and the two FBI agents continued to walk, Dean greeting them with a mocking "Agent Mulder. Agent Scully." And with that, he, Sam and Ivy left back to the car.

Later that day they ran into a gothic girl putting up 'missing' posters of Troy. They told her they were his uncles and aunt. They spoke to her and her friend, and the two girls told them a local legend of a girl who was murdered on Centennial a few decades ago. The ghost is said to be still out there, hitchhiking and whoever picks her up disappears forever. The hunters headed to the local library to dig up any information about her that they could.

'_Female murder hitchhiking_' was the first thing Dean typed into the search engine. No result. He tried again with '_female murder Centennial highway_'. No results found, once again.

"Let me try." Sam said, reaching for the keyboard but Dean smacked his hand away.

"I got it!" Dean said. Sam glared at his older brother and then pushed him out of the way. "Dude!" Dean exclaimed and punched Sam on the shoulder. "You're such a control freak."

Sam just ignored him. "So, angry spirits are born out of violent death, right?"

"Yeah." Dean and Ivy confirmed.

"But maybe it's not a murder." Sam said and typed in '_female suicide Centennial highway_'. One result found. He clicked on it and read the article. "This was 1981. 'Constance Welch, twenty-four years old, jumps off Sylvania Bridge, drowns in river.'"

"Does it say why she did it?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. An hour before they found her, she calls 911. Her two little kids are in the bathtub, she leaves them alone for a minute and when she comes back they aren't breathing. Both die."

"That's horrible." Ivy muttered and Sam nodded his agreement.

"'Our babies were gone and Constance just couldn't bear it.' Said husband Joseph Welch."

"That bridge look familiar to you?" Dean asked rhetorically, looking at the picture on the screen of the very same bridge they were on that day.

"I guess we need to pay it another visit." Ivy said to the boys, both of them nodding.

"So this is where Constance took the swan dive?" Dean said, leaning against the railing of Sylvania Bridge later on that night. They decided that night would be the best time to do it, since the cops would be gone.

"So you think dad would've been here?" Sam asked.

"Well he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him." Dean answered.

"Okay, now what?" Sam asked. He wanted to find their dad, but he also had a life to get back to. Dean would be fine with just Ivy.

"We keep digging until we find him. Might take a while." Dean said, obviously not caring about Sam's aforementioned life.

"Dean, I told you. I've gotta get back by-"

"By Monday. Right. The interview."

"Yeah."

"Yeah. I forgot. You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"You think you're just going to become some lawyer?"

"Dean," Ivy said sternly, trying to stop Dean from saying something he'll regret. Dean ignored her and pushed on.

"Marry your girl?" Dean continued.

"Maybe. Why not?" Sam responed.

"Does Jessica know the truth?"

"Dean!" Ivy snapped but her voice was drowned out by Dean's.

"Does she know about the things you've done?"

"No. And she's not ever going to know,"

"Well that's healthy. You can pretend all you want, Sammy, but sooner or later you're gonna have to face up to who you really are." Dean said and turned around, walking away from Sam. Sam followed after him and Ivy ran after the two of them.

"And who is that?"

"One of us." Dean said, still not looking at his little brother.

"No. I'm not like you." Sam caught up to Dean. "This is not going to be my life."

"You have a responsibility."

"To dad? And his crusade?" Sam rolled his eyes and scoffed. "If it weren't for pictures, I wouldn't even know what mom looks like. And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, mom's gone. And she isn't coming back."

All of a sudden, Dean grabbed Sam by the collar and smashed him against one of the steel posts on the bridge. What right did he have to talk about their mother like that? Yes, she was dead, and no, killing the demon that killed her wouldn't bring her back, Dean knew that. The least they could do was avenge her death. Get justice for what happened, and make sure it never happens again.

"Dean, let go of him." Ivy shouted at Dean, running up to the boys and trying the pry Dean away from Sam.

"Don't talk about her like that." Dean growled, ignoring the dainty hands that were trying to stop him from punching Sam in the face.

Ivy kept pulling at Dean, and suddenly she got a rush of strength. She felt truly powerful for the first time in her life. Not once had she felt so strong, not when she was holding a gun, not when she was killing demons. Never. She tried to pull Dean once again.

And Dean went flying.

She barely used any of her strength, but it was like she just became the hulk. She pushed Dean off of Sam as though he were made of cotton candy. Dean stood up and rubbed his now sore shoulder that he fell on.

"What the hell was that?" he asked Ivy in shock. Before anyone could ponder it further, Dean stopped in his tracks. "Guys." He said, looking straight ahead. Sam and Ivy followed his gaze and saw a lady dressed in all white standing on the railing of the bridge. The ghose of Constance Welch.

Her head turned slowly as she faced the three hunters. She looked them all in the eye, before gracefully falling off of the rail. Dean and Sam ran after her, as if to try and stop it although it was useless; she was already dead. The two of them looked over the railing but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd she go?" Dean asked.

"I don't know." Sam replied.

"Um, Sam, Dean…" Ivy called from behind them, her voice sounded scared. The two boys turned around and saw that the lights of the Impala had gone on. Suddenly, the loud rumble of the engine revving was heard.

"What the-" Dean started but trailed off.

Sam looked across at Ivy and asked stupidly "who's driving your car?"

Dean said nothing and just pulled his keys out of his pocket.

The car started to drive quickly towards them, and the three hunters broke into a run. They ran towards the side of the bridge, the haunted car following their every move, leaving them no choice but to jump into the river.

Sam managed to grab onto one of the railings and pull himself back up. Ivy landed hard on the half-soft dirt on the shore of the river, but Dean ended up falling straight into the murky, muddy waters of the river.

"Dean!" Sam called. "Ivy!"

Dean crawled out of the river, and Ivy sat up slowly, cradling her limp right arm in her left hand.

"Are you alright?" Sam called down to them. Dean made an 'ok' gesture with his hand and replied "I'm super."

"Ivy?" Sam called down.

"Yeah." She said, trying to keep her voice steady, but unfortunately it came out in a pained groan. "I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" Dean asked, crawling towards her. "You look like you're in pain." He added, noticing her wince.

"I'm fine. I just think I might've dislocated something." She said and used her good arm to push herself to her feet. "Come on, mud-boy." She said to Dean and headed back up to the bridge.

When they'd made their way back to Sam and the car, Dean said "Sammy, can you check out Ivy's arm? I need to make sure my baby is okay."

"Oh, sure, make sure the car's alright, I'm not as important." Ivy said in mock seriousness.

"Damn right, you're not." Dean said looking back at her, completely serious. Sam and Ivy chuckled as Dean opened the hood of the car. Sam walked over to Ivy and stood beside her.

"Which arm?" he asked.

"Right." She answered.

Sam lifted it up slowly and gently, so not to hurt her, as he inspected it.

"It's definitely a dislocated shoulder." He said.

"I thought so." She nodded.

"This is going to hurt a bit." He warned her as he pressed his body into her left side and gripped her right shoulder. He had to admit, it felt weird being this physically close to a girl that isn't Jess. It was quite an intimate thing, really, healing wounds. It wouldn't seem like it but they could both feel their faces heating up at the close contact. Sam actually felt guilty. He felt like he was cheating on Jess. Not because he was this close Ivy, but because he liked it. It didn't feel completely right but…

'_It doesn't feel wrong_.' His subconscious said.

Ivy snuck a peak up at Sam, although she wasn't sure why she felt the need to hide the fact that she was looking at him. Maybe it was because in this barely-there moonlight, she noticed how attractive he really was. He had a sharp jawline, pretty eyes, good cheekbones and a broad chest that she could feel every muscle moving in.

'_No, Ivy__-Jade Marie__ Carrigan. Stop. He has a girlfriend and you'll probably never see him after this hunt anyway_.' She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts, but it was Sam's voice that really snapped her back into reality.

"You ready?"

"Yeah, this isn't my first dislocation." She said coolly. Sam nodded and pulled up her shoulder, popping it back into place.

Ivy let out a small "Ah!" at the momentary pain, but it didn't feel as severe as all of her last dislocations. Come to think of it, that was a big fall, and she should've been more badly injured. She was glad she wasn't, but she should've been. And where did that burst of strength come from earlier? The feeling of empowerment? Nothing was making sense.

Sam realised he was still holding onto Ivy and quickly let go. He cleared his throat and in a purposely loud voice, asked "car alright?"

"Yeah." Dean said, wiping his hands on a dirty rag although it didn't really do much since he was covered head-to-toe in sewer-like river water. "Whatever she did to it, seems alright now. That Constance chick, _what a bitch_!"

"Yeah, well she doesn't want us digging around. That's for sure."

"Would you, if you were a ghost?" Ivy questioned, rubbing her shoulder. Dean sighed and the three of them leaned against the hood of the Impala.

"So where's the trail go from here, genius?" Sam asked Dean. Dean threw his hands up in the air and then let them fall back onto his knees, making a wet sort of clapping noise. He looked at his hands and flicked them, trying to remove some of the foul smell.

Sam crinkled his nose. "You smell like a toilet." He said to his brother, who shot him a death glare in return.

They walked back to a hotel, since Dean refused to get in his car smelling like shit and wouldn't let anyone else drive. It was light out by the time they got there. He dropped his credit card onto the front desk and said "one room please."

The old man at reception looked at the three of them with a curious look, probably wondering why one of them smelled like a dead skunk and was covered in dried up mud. He picked up the credit-card and looked at the name.

"You guys having a reunion or something?" the man asked?

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"That other guy, Burt Aframian. He came in and bought out a room for the whole month."

Dean and Sam looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"Well, yes." Ivy smiled broadly and clapped her hands together happily. "Yes, we are having a reunion. In fact, I'd love to surprise my dear old dad." She added a girly giggle, one Sam thought was way too girly to belong to her. "Would you be able to tell me which room he's in?" she finished, batting her eyelashes and still having that pageant-queen smile on her face.

"I'm not permitted to give out room keys to other guests." The old man said with a small frown.

"Oh, no, no of course not. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble! I just need the room number so I can go and surprise him." She said, using all the charm she could muster up.

"Let me check the records." He said and typed something into a computer. "Uh-huh. Burt Aframian, room number 10."

Ivy let out a happy squeal. "Thank you so much! Daddy will be so happy to see me." She waved to the man before walking away to room 10.

"You get our room, I'll meet you at room 10." She whispered to Dean so the old man couldn't hear her. Sam stood there, speechless, for a moment, absolutely shocked at what he just saw. Nothing that just happened seemed like Ivy. He hadn't known her for that long, but still.

"I had no idea you could be such a girl." Sam teased as he caught up with her. Ivy let out a laugh.

"I'm a hunter too, Sam. I need to know how to act," She shrugged and smiled.

Dean met up with them and easily picked the lock. They stepped inside the room and saw there were bits of paper stuck up on the walls, string pinned onto maps, salt circled around the door and old food all around the room.

"Ugh, I don't think he's been here for a couple of days. At least." Dean said after smelling one of the old burgers.

"Salt, cats-eye shells. He was worried." Sam said. "Trying to keep something from coming in."

Dean and Ivy looked at the pictures of the Centennial highway victims that were taped up on the wall, while Sam looked on the other side of the room at pages from books that had been ripped out and taped up. All sorts of pictures of demons were up there, though they were somehow relevant.

"I don't get it." Dean said. "They're different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection right?"

"Right." Ivy said. "We just need to find it."

"Dad figured it out." Sam said with a small, breathy laugh.

"What do you mean?"

"He found the same article we did. Constance Welch. She's our Woman in White."

"You sly dogs." Dean said looking back at the list of victims.

"Wait, what's a woman in white?" Ivy-Jade asked having never encountered one before.

"Uh, the spirit of a woman whose husband was unfaithful. Then, they'd go temporarily insane, murder their children and then kill themselves once they'd realised what they'd done. Now their spirits are cursed so that when they find an unfaithful man, they kill him and he's never seen again." Sam told her.

"Alright so if we're dealing with a Woman in White, dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it." Dean said.

"She might have another weakness." Sam said.

"Dad would wanna make sure. He'd dig her up. Does this say where she's buried?" Dean said.

"No, not that I can tell. If I were dad, though, I'd go ask her husband. If he's still alive."

"Alright, why don't you two see if you can find an address? I'm gonna get cleaned up."

"Hey, Dean?" Sam called, stopping Dean in his tracks. "What I said earlier about mom and dad, I'm sorry-"

Dean held up his hand, signalling Sam to stop and simply said "no chick-flick moments."

Sam huffed and nodded. "Alright. Jerk."

"Bitch." Dean said and continued on his way to the shower.

Ivy smiled at the show of affection between the brothers. It wasn't exactly how people would normally show they care, but what was 'normal' when you were a hunter?

Once Dean left, Sam noticed something on the mirror. He walked up to it and picked up a photo of him, Dean and their dad.

"What is it?" Ivy asked, walking up behind Sam and putting her hand on his shoulder.

"A picture of me, Dean and dad." He told her, pushing the burning sensation of her hand on his shoulder to the back of his mind.

"Appreciate it." She said sadly. "I'd kill to have a photo of me and my parents."

"What happened to them?" Sam asked.

Ivy shrugged and told him; "They're both dead. My dad first, when I was fifteen. He was hunting a Wendigo and... I guess it got the better of him," Sam thought there was more to the story than she was letting on, but he wasn't one to push. "And then vampires got my mom a little over a year ago now. Uncle Bobby took me in but after about a month, I started hunting with Dean and John. Now, here we are."

Suddenly, Sam felt even worse about everything he was saying about his own parents earlier. At least he still had one. Well, he thought he did. His stomach dropped at the thought of John being dead. Sure, he and his dad didn't always get along and his dad wasn't always there when Sam needed him to be but he didn't hate the man. He, Dean and Jess were the only family he had left. Now his dad was missing and all he was doing was complaining that it was taking up his time.

"Oh, looks like you have a new voice mail." Ivy said, seeing the screen of his phone light up.

"It's probably Jess," he told her, for some reason not wanting to hear it just yet.

"You should listen to it," she smiled and went to look around again, giving Sam as much privacy as was possible.

Dean came out of the bathroom, shrugging on his jacket.

"Hey guys, I'm starving. I'm gonna grab a little something to eat at that diner down the street, you want anything?"

"Yeah, I'll go with you," Ivy said, desperate to get away from Sam.

"No," Sam answered, barely paying attention to anything other than the voicemail from Jess. Even though her aim was to get away from Sam, Ivy was still a little disappointed that he didn't want to go.

"You sure? Aframians buying," Dean urged.

"Uh-uh," was Sam's reply.

Dean and Ivy left the hotel room but barely made it two metres before they were spotted by the cops. Dean sighed and took out his phone to call Sam.

"Dude, Five-O. Take off," he said.

"_What about you and Ivy?_"

"Uh, they kinda spotted us. Go find dad." Dean ended the call and turned around to face the police. "Problem officers?"

"Where's your other partner?" One of them asked, looking between Dean and Ivy-Jade.

"Partner? What partner?" Dean said with a small innocent smile. The one that spoke gestured for his partner to go and look inside.

"So, fake U.S. marshals. Fake credit cards. You got anything that's real?"

"My boobs," Dean and Ivy replied at the same time. Ivy rolled her eyes at Dean.

Of course, they ended up arrested.

Ivy was still being interrogated about why she wasn't in their database and blah, blah, blah, when the cop interrogating her got a 911 call. He asked if she needed to go to the bathroom and when she said no, handcuffed her to the table. She sighed and leaned back in her chair, looking around for something that she could use to pick the lock. She found nothing, well nothing in reach, and had given up when Dean entered the room.

"Dean!" She called quietly, "I've never been so happy to see you!"

"Well, I'm always happy to see you," he said with a flirty wink.

"I'm way out of your league dude," she shook her head at him as he proceeded to unlock her handcuffs with a paper-clip. As soon as she was free, they bolted out of the station and to the nearest phone booth.

"Fake 911 call, Sammy? I don't know, that's pretty illegal," Dean said with a smirk.

"_You're welcome,"_ came Sam's reply. Dean smiled, knowing that his brother was too.

"Look, we gotta talk,"

"_Tell me about it. Turns out the husband _was_ unfaithful. We are dealing with a Woman in White. She's buried behind her old house, so that should've been dad's next stop-"_

"Sammy, would you shut up?" Dean cut him off.

"Dean, what's going on?" Ivy asked him. He gave her a sad look and then went back to the conversation with Sam.

"_I just can't figure out why he hasn't destroyed the corpse yet,"_

"Well, that's what I'm trying to tell you. He's gone,"

"What?" Ivy gasped, "Dean what do you mean?"

"Dad left Jericho," He said to Sam, yet looking at Ivy.

"_What? How do you know?"_

"I've got his journal."

"_He doesn't go anywhere without that thing,"_

"Yeah, well he did this time."

"_What's it say?"_

"It's the same old ex-marine crap for when he wants to let us know where he's going."

"_Coordinates. Where to?"_

"I'm not sure yet."

"_I don't understand. I mean, what could be so important that Dad would skip out in the middle of a job? Dean, what the hell is going on – _whoa_!"_

"Sam? Sam!" Dean called into the phone after hearing the sound of tires screeching.

"Dean? What's wrong? What happened?" Ivy asked, but Dean just ignored her and continued calling out for Sam.

"Damn it!" Dean hung up the phone hastily.

"Dean! What happened?" Ivy snapped.

"I don't understand. I mean, what could be so important that Dad would skip out in the middle of a job? Dean, what the hell is going on," Sam said to Dean through the phone. When he looked back up at the road, the Woman in White was standing right in the middle of the road, _"whoa!"_ Sam slammed on the breaks trying not to hit her, but he did anyway, the car going right through her.

The car stopped, and Sam turned around to look in the back seat. Sitting there, ever so calmly, was the Woman in White.

"Take me home," she whispered in a seductive manner. Sam's face hardened. He knew what she was doing; trying to make him unfaithful, but he wouldn't. He loved Jessica more than anything.

"No," he said.

"Take me home," she said in a more determined manner.

"No," he said again.

Suddenly, all the doors locked and the car started to speed away on its own. Sam took the steering wheel, but let go as soon as he realised he wasn't the one controlling it. He tried to open the door, put on the breaks, anything but it was no use.

The car pulled up to an old, abandoned house that Sam realised to be the one Constance herself used to live in. The car stopped and the lights went out.

"Don't do this," Sam said, trying to speak to the good in her.

She just looked up at the house with a sorrowful expression.

"I can never go home," she said.

And then it hit Sam.

"You're scared to go home," he said and turned around once again, but she was no longer there. He looked around, only to find her sitting in the passenger seat of the car.

Her lustful gaze found Sam's panicked one. Using her ghost speed, she moved closer, until she was on top of him, grinding their hips together.

"Hold me, I'm so cold," she whispered and leaned down to kiss him.

"You can't kill me," he groaned out. She was using her powers on him; compressing his lungs so much he could barely breathe. "I'm not unfaithful. I've never been,"

"You will be," she whispered lowly into Sam's ear.

Sam's heart stopped for a second. He didn't think she was talking about herself. Did Women in White have the power to know if men are going to be unfaithful, even if they haven't yet? Sam's mind wandered to Ivy for a split second, but it was enough to make him feel guiltier than ever.

Constance leaned down and captured Sam's lips I a kiss; one that he refused to respond to. He used the distraction to reach behind her and try to turn on the car. She realised what he was trying to do and got angry. She disappeared and then Sam felt a burning pain in his chest. He struggled to remove his jacket, but when he did, he saw five holes in his chest – like a hand was trying to dig through his skin and rip out his heart. She flashed quickly in front of him, no longer looking young and beautiful, but angry and more like a monster. Out of nowhere, shots were fired and she disappeared again; along with the pain in Sam's chest.

Sam sat up quickly, turning on the car.

"I'm taking you home," he muttered and sped towards the house.

"Sam!" Dean called after him, although he seemed more worried that the car would be hurt.

"What the hell is he doing?" Ivy stressed as she watched the car demolish the entrance to the house. The two hunters ran into the house, Dean immediately going to help Sam, Ivy looking for Constance.

Dean helped Sam out of the wreckage and turned to see Constance standing before them with a deadly glare. She stepped aside and sent a chest of drawers flying towards them. Ivy shot at her twice, missing once. She appeared behind Ivy and was about to throw her into the wall when the lights started flickering. They all looked around and saw two children, dripping wet, standing at the head of the stairs.

"You've come home to us, mommy," they said together.

Ivy thought there was nothing freakier than children ghosts.

The two kids pulled her into a hug and Constance let out an ear-splitting scream as they all melted into the floorboards. Ivy ran over and helped push away the drawers that were pinning the boys to the car.

"So, this is where she drowned her kids," Dean deduced.

"That's why she could never go home," sam nodded. "She was too scared to face them."

"How'd you know that would work?" Ivy piped in.

"I didn't, just took a chance," Sam said.

"You 'took a chance' with my car?!"

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah, i guess it did. Nice work Sammy," Dean said, walking back to his car.

Sam let out a loud bark of a laugh.

"Yeah, wish I could say the same for you two," he commented, "what were you thinking shooting Casper in the face you freaks?"

Ivy smirked and crossed her arms over her chest and said in a smug tone "It worked, didn't it?"

"We saved your ass, and I'll tell you another thing. If you screwed up my car," he looked his brother straight in the eye "I'll kill you,"

Sam shook his head while Ivy rolled her eyes. She was sure Dean's relationship with that car was anything but healthy. Once they had pushed the car out of the house, Dean was pleased ot see thet his baby only had a few dents and a busted headlight. It was an easy fix.

They were back on the road on the way to Stanford when, Ivy sitting in the back, thinking deeply about what happened back at the bridge. Where did all that strength come from? She had some muscle and she knew how to fight, but she would never be able to beat Dean in an arm wrestle, let alone _throw_ him with barely a nudge. Sam was in the passenger seat, looking at the coordinates in John's journal with a map and torch in hand, trying to figure out where he was telling them to go. Dean was, of course, driving.

"Okay, here's where dad went," Sam said after a long time spent searching. "It's called Black Water Ridge, Colorado,"

Even the name gave Ivy goosebumps.

"Sounds charming," Dean quipped. "How far?"

Ivy sighed in the back seat, knowing where Dean was going with this. Why couldn't he accept that Stanford and Jessica were Sam's life now?

"About six-hundred miles,"

"Well if we shag ass, we can make it by morning," Dean silently suggested.

"Dean, I-um" Sam struggled to find a way ot let Dean down easily. Doing this again, with Dean, he had to admit he kind of missed hunting, but he had the law school interview to go to and he couldn't – no, _wouldn't_ – mess that up.

"You're not going,"

"The interview's in like ten hours," Sam said, as if that made it any better in Dean's mind. "I gotta be there,"

"Yeah," Dean looked back at the road, the hurt poorly masked. "Yeah, whatever. I'll take you home,"

Sam switched off the flashlight, guilt bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

The next few hours were completely silent.

They pulled into the hell-hole that had taken Dean's brother from him (otherwise known as Stanford) and Dean turned off the engine of his beloved Impala. Sam grabbed his bag and got out of the car.

He bent down to the opened window of the passenger seat. The brothers exchanged meaningful glances.

"You'll call me if you find him?"

Dean nodded, but Ivy could tell that he didn't mean it. Sam chose school, why should Dean bother him with the details of, oh say, whether or not their dad is dead. Besides, Dean still had his pride.

"Maybe I could meet up with the you later, huh?" Sam offered, glancing at Ivy to let her know that he was including her in the statement. In all honesty, Sam had missed his brother.

"Yeah, alright," Dean agreed, more or less to humor Sam.

"It was nice meeting you, Ivy," He smiled.

"You too, Sam. Good luck with your interview,"

Sam's chest tightened as he wished Dean had said that.

"You know we made a hell of a team back there," Dean said, stopping Sam from walking away.

"Yeah," the younger Winchester replied, the hint of a smile pulling at his lips.

Realising that was all Sam had to say and there was no changing his mind; Dean drove away.

"Dean? Do you wanna... Talk about it?" Ivy tried, but Dean was never the talking type.

"No," he said hastily and turned the car off.

"What are you doing?"

"_We_," He pointed between them "Are going to go and make sure Sam's alright,"

"What? We literally just left him,"

"I know, but i got a bad feeling,"

Ivy decided to go with him since his 'bad feelings' are usually always right.

They were just in the hall outside Sam's when they heard a scream of "No!" it was obviously Sam's voice and Dean left no time before kicking in the door.

"Sam!" He shouted as he and Ivy ran towards Sam's voice.

"Jess!" They heard Sm cry.

"Dean, in there!" Ivy pointed to a room with smoke coming out of the door.

Dean ran there, calling his brother's name. The room was on fire and he felt his stomach drop when he saw Jess burning on the roof above Sam's bed; just like their mum did. Dean and Ivy grabbed Sam, pulling and shoving him out the door, despite his resisting. The three managed to get out just before the rest of the room went up in flames.

As soon as they were outside, Ivy called 911 as Dean comforted his sobbing brother.

A few minutes later, the firefighters were there, along with a crown of curious bistanders. Ivy frowned, leaning against the Impala watching Sam as he carefully inspected every weapon in the trunk. He had stopped crying a few minutes ago, but now he was worse. He just looked numb.

"Sam, are you alright?" She asked softly. He shot her a hard glare. She pushed herself off of the car, holding her hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, sorry. Stupid question.

"Yeah, it was," He muttered, pulling out a shotgun.

"What I meant was, if you need to talk, I'm here," she placed a hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner, but he shrugged her off roughly.

"Don't touch me,"

'_I was just trying to be friendly_,' she thought bitterly, getting into the back seat and slamming the door closed.

Dean heard the door slam and approached Sam.

"What was that?" He asked, knowing Ivy didn't usually get that pissed without a good reason.

"Nothing," Sam said stonily, throwing the shotgun back into the trunk and closing it. "Come on," he said to his brother. "We've got work to do,"

**THE WOMAN IN WHITE**

Dean parked the Impala out the front of the large campus. Stanford. This is what Sammy left him for? Study sessions and library books? It'd been nearly four years since Dean's last seen his little brother. Nearly four years since their dad told Sam to stay, or leave and never come back. So Sam left. Dean still couldn't believe that his little brother, his Sammy, had just up and left him for school of all things. They were family and family should always come first. That's why he was here right now. He'd been hunting with his dad and Ivy for a while now, but his dad hasn't come back from his last hunting trip. Sure, Dean had Ivy with him, but it wasn't the same. Not quite. Ivy was like a sister to him, yes, and he'd promised Bobby he'd look out for her, sure, but right now, Dean needed his brother with him.

"Dean…are you sure this is the right thing to do?" the shorter girl asked. Dean let out a long sigh and looked over at her.

"No. Probably not, but it's what I need." He told her honestly and got out of the car.

They quickly made their way to the dorm room which was on the third floor and, as quietly as he could, dean crouched down before the door and got out his lock pick. Once it was unlocked, Dean pushed the door slightly and it swung open with a slight creak. He turned his head back to look at Ivy cockily and gave her a dimpled smile.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it's done." He said, brushing his hands on his jeans and standing up to his full height. Ivy rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get this over and done with." She said giving dean a slight push. The two of them walked into the small dorm and began looking for Sam when someone extremely tall with freakishly long arms came out of nowhere and began to grapple with Dean. Fists were flying, and even a few kicks were attempted but both men managed to avoid all of the hits. Dean managed to get the guy pinned to the ground and smirked.

"Whoa, easy, tiger." Dean teased. The guy below him frowned in confusion and then realisation.

"Dean?" the guys sounded surprised. "You scared the crap out of me."

"That's because you're out of practice." Dean said and in response, the taller male just rolled them over so he was the one pinning Dean to the ground. "Or not. Get off me." Dean said, although he was still smiling.

The taller guy stood up before pulling Dean up too.

"Um, am I right to assume this is the infamous Sammy?" Ivy asked and the aforementioned man's head spun around to look at where the voice came from. A girl he didn't recognise was also standing there. She had brown hair that fell in loose curls over her shoulders, she was kinda short and had the biggest brown eyes Sam had ever seen.

"It's Sam. Who are you?" he responded shortly.

"I'm Ivy-Jade. I've been hunting with Dean and…" she hesitated, knowing it was a touchy subject "your dad."

"Whatever. Look, Dean, why are you here?"

"Well, I was looking for a beer." Dean replied, ever the smartass.

"What the _hell_ are you doing here?" Sam just said in a more serious tone.

"Okay, alright. We gotta talk." Dean nodded.

"Uh, the phone?"

"If I'd have called, would you've picked up?"

Before Sam could say anything, the light flicked on and a girl's voice called out shyly "Sam?"

Everyone's heads turned to the doorway, only to see a lean blonde standing there in colourful striped pyjama shorts and a grey _The Smurfs _t-shirt on.

"Jess, hey." Sam said and turned to look back at dean. "Dean, Ivy, this is my girlfriend Jessica."

"Wait. Your brother, Dean?" the girl, Jessica, asked taking a step towards the other three.

"I love The Smurfs." Dean said, gesturing to the shirt she was wearing and walking towards her. "You know, I gotta tell you, you are completely out of my brother's league."

Jess scoffed while Sam and Ivy rolled their eyes.

"Just let me put something on." Jess said, glancing at Sam.

"No, no. No, I wouldn't dream of it." Dean said in fake innocence. "Seriously." He added and then walked back over to Sam. "Anyway, I gotta borrow your boyfriend, talk about some private family business. Nice meeting you."

Jess gave a small smile and glanced at Sam again.

"No." Sam said and stood beside Jess. "Whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her."

Dean internally groaned. Why did his brother have to be so…righteous?

"Sam, this is important." Ivy commented.

"No offence, but I don't know you." Sam snapped. Ivy raised her hands in mock surrender and looked at Dean, raising her eyebrows and giving him a look that said 'is-he-for-real?' Dean shrugged and looked back at Sam.

"Okay. Um, dad hasn't been home in a few days."

"So he's working overtime on a Miller-time shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later." Sam said, clearly not caring.

"Dad's on a hunting trip." Dean urged. "And he hasn't been home in a few days."

Sam's expression of nonchalance became one of concern.

"Jess, excuse us." He said to his girlfriend, his worried gaze never leaving his brother's serious one. "We have to go outside."

With that, Sam left Jess' side and ushered Dean and Ivy out.

"Okay, so what do you want me to do about it?" Sam asked the pair as they made their way towards the staircase.

"Come with me and help find him." Dean said as if it should be obvious.

"Are you serious?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Damn right I'm serious."

"I mean, come on, you can't just break in, in the middle of the night and expect me to hit the road with you and some random girl." Sam argued as the three walked down the stairs hastily.

"You're not hearing me, Sammy. Dad's missing. I need you to help me find him."

"You remember the Poltergeist in Amherst?" Sam countered "Or the Devil's Gates in Clifton? He was missing then. He's always missing and he's always fine."

"Not for this long." Dean said, getting annoyed at his brother. "Now, are you gonna come with me or not?"

"I'm not."

"Why not?"

"I swore I was done hunting. For good."

"Come on, it wasn't easy but it wasn't that bad."

"Yeah? When I told dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45."

"What was he supposed to do?" dead asked, defending his dad.

"I was nine years old. He was supposed to say 'don't be afraid of the dark'."

"'Don't be afraid of the dark'? Are you kidding me, of course you should be afraid of the dark. You know what's out there." Dean nearly yelled. He was losing his temper quickly. He didn't understand why Sam wasn't worried. Sure, the two had their differences but they were family. Ivy was getting just as frustrated as Dean. Sam's dad was missing and he couldn't care less. Her mom was dead and she'd give anything to have her give her bad advice one more time.

They had stopped just outside the door that led into the car park, but they were still arguing.

"Yeah, I know. But still the way we grew up after mom was killed, and dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her. But we still haven't found the damn thing. So we kill everything we can find."

"We save a lot of people doing it too."

"You think mom would've wanted this for us?"

Dean just pushed open the door roughly and stormed out, Ivy and Sam following him out. Honestly, Dean didn't think this is what their mom would've wanted but it didn't really matter anymore did it?

"The weapons training and melting the silver into bullets. Man, Dean, we were raised like warriors."

"So what are you gonna do? You just gonna live some normal, apple-pie life?" Dean asked, both he and Ivy nearly at their wits end, and stopped walking when he reached the Impala. "Is that it?"

"No. Not normal. Safe."

"And that's why you ran away." Dean muttered, mostly to himself.

"I was just going to college. It was dad who said if I was gonna go, I should stay gone." Sam shook his head. "So that's what I'm doing."

"Bullshit." Ivy muttered to herself. Sam and Dean both looked at her with frowns on their faces. Obviously they heard her.

"Excuse me?" Sam huffed. He didn't even know her, who was she to insult him or judge the way he chose to live his life?

"You heard me. Bull. Shit." She spoke up, wanting him to hear her now. "You're pissed at your dad because he didn't lie to you about monsters under your bed, and the Tooth Fairy, and Santa Clause? Well get over it! He was there for you, and maybe it wasn't what you wanted, but it was what you needed. He cared about you so much, Sam. He still does. You were lucky to have him but you just left because you didn't like the fact that he wanted you around. He didn't want you to leave because he knew that you would be in danger on your own. Family should stick together and right now, you're just turning your back on your family. Stop taking them for granted, Sam, because one day you won't have them anymore." She finished her rant and crossed her arms over her chest, breathing in and out heavily from anger. She was right and both boys knew it, although Sam didn't want to admit it. All he wanted was a normal and safe life. Was that too much to ask for?

"Well, dad's in trouble now, if he's not dead already. I can feel it." Dean said, breaking the tense silence. Another silence followed. "I can't do this alone."

"Yes, you can." Sam sighed and looked at Ivy, who still had an expression of hurt and anger on her face. "Besides, you're not alone. You have Ivy."

"That's not the same." Dean said with a sigh. "I need my brother. And even if I could do it alone…I don't want to."

Sam took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, collecting his thoughts. He knew going with Dean and Ivy was the right thing to do. He knew that there was a very real chance that his dad was in danger. Really, there was only one option.

So, with a long sigh, Sam reluctantly asked; "What was he hunting?"

Instead of answering straight away, Dean walked over to the trunk of his car and opened it up. He pulled up the fake bottom and started searching for something.

"Let's see, where the hell did I put that thing?" Dean muttered to himself.

"So, when dad left, why didn't you go with him?" Sam asked.

"Ivy here was with Bobby and I was working my own gig. This voodoo thing down in New Orleans." Dean replied, smiling to himself.

"Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?" Sam stared at Dean like he just grew an extra head. Dean looked up at Sam like he just said the stupidest thing in the world.

"I'm 26, dude." Dean said and went back to the file he was searching through. "Alright, here we go." He said and pulled out a few pieces of paper. "So dad was checking out this Two-Lane Blacktop just outside of Jericho, California. About a month ago, this guy." Dean handed Sam one of the sheets of paper. "They found his car, but he'd vanished. Completely MIA."

"So maybe he was kidnapped."

"That's what I originally thought, but no such luck." Ivy said.

"Yeah, well. Here's another one in April." Dean passed him another piece of paper. "Another one in December '04, '03, '98, '92." Dean listed, off. "Ten of them over the past twenty years. All men, all the same five-mile stretch of road. It started happening more and more so dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago. We haven't heard from him since, which is bad enough. Then I get this voicemail yesterday." He reached into his pocket and took out his phone, holding it out for Sam to hear.

"Dean, something started to happen. I think it's serious." The voicemail said, although it kept cutting in and out. "I need to try to find out what's going on. Be very careful Dean, we're all in danger."

"You know there's E.V.P on that?" Sam said without hesitation.

"Not bad, Sammy." Dean smirked. He knew Sam wouldn't be able to resist hunting. "It's kinda like riding a bike, isn't it?" Sam rolled his eyes, something Ivy noticed he did a lot. "Alright, I slowed the message down and ran it through a Goldwave, took out the hiss and this is what I got."

Dean pressed play, and a soft, creepy, female voice could be heard whispering "I can never go home."

"'Never go home.'" Sam repeated.

Dean put his phone away and closed the trunk. He leaned back on the car and spoke again.

"In almost two years, I've never bothered you, never asked you for a thing." Dean hinted.

"Alright. I'll go. I'll help you find him. But I have to get back first thing Monday." Sam agreed. "Just wait here." He said and began to walk off.

"What's first thing Monday?" Dean asked.

"I have this…I have an interview."

"What, a job interview? Skip it." Dean shrugged but Ivy could tell from the look on Sam's face that it was something more important.

"It's a law school interview and it's my whole future on a plate."

"Law school?" Dean asked with an incredulous nod.

"So we got a deal or not?"

"Fine." Dean agreed and let Sam go tell Jess.

"Dean, you realise how selfish this is, don't you?" Ivy asked Dean.

"I thought you were on my side." He asked, only half-serious.

"I am, but Sam's worked hard for this. He'll never forgive you if he misses this interview." The brunette told him.

"Yeah." Dean sighed. "I know."

Dean knew there was a possibility that Sam could hate him for this, but it was a chance he needed to take.

The three of them had been driving for nearly eight hours straight before they pulled into a roadhouse. Ivy was nearly half-asleep in the back seat while Sam was looking through Dean's cassette collection in the passenger side. Sam had insisted she sat in the front because he didn't want to intrude, and if the front seat was what she was used to she could sit there. Hell, he wasn't planning on being with them for that long anyway. Ivy declined though. She'd always preferred the back seat; there was more room for her to sleep.

"Hey, you want breakfast?" Dean called, walking out of the store and back to the car holding a bottle of Mountain Dew and a packet of Doritos in one hand and a chocolate bar hanging from his mouth.

"No, thanks." Sam replied.

"Yes please!" Ivy exclaimed in an over-the-top way, as if she hadn't eaten in days. Dean passed her the Doritos through the half wound-down window in the back seat and she gleefully took them.

"So how'd you pay for that stuff? You and dad still running credit-card scams?" Sam asked, still examining the cassettes.

"Yeah, well hunting ain't exactly a pro-ball career. Besides, all we do is apply. It's not our fault they send us the cards."

"Yeah, and what names did you write on the application this time?"

"Uh, Burt Aframian and his son and daughter Hector and Joan." Dean said as he got into the driver's seat. "Scored three cards out of the deal." Dean finished smugly.

"Sounds about right." Sam said with a smile playing at his lips. He turned around and looked at Ivy, who was pigging out on corn chips. "And, you're okay with this?"

Ivy shrugged. "We break the law every day. What's one more felony to the list? Besides, it's this or dying of starvation."

"Can't you just get a job?"

"Okay, fair enough." She nodded. "Then it's either credit card fraud or prostitution." She said in a half-joking manner. Sam was gobsmacked and had no idea what to say. "Sam, I was pretty much born and raised a hunter. I never went to school. I mean, legally, I don't even exist, since there's no birth certificate," she shook her head and continued eating her chips. "My mum tried to quit the life but it kept coming back. Not much they could do about it,"

"Whatever," Sam said and turned back to the cassettes. It wasn't his place to comment. She's just some girl. He doesn't know her and after tomorrow, he would never have to see her again. So why does he care? Instead, he opted for changing the subject. "I swear, man. You've gotta update your cassette-tape collection."

"Why?" Dean asked, like someone just insulted his child.

"Well, for one, they're cassette-tapes. And two; Black Sabbath? Motӧrhead? Metallica? It's the greatest hits of mullet rock."

"Well, house rules, Sammy. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cake hole." Dean said and took out the Metallica cassette, shoving the empty case back into Sam's hands and putting the tape in the stereo.

"You know, 'Sammy' is a chubby twelve-year-old. It's Sam okay?" Sam said to Dean.

"Sorry, I can't hear you," Dean said gesturing to his ear, "the music's too loud." He said feigning innocence and drove off.

Ivy laughed and leaned forward towards Sam so he could hear her.

"You were chubby?" she teased and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Shut up." He said but was still smiling a little bit. Ivy just laughed and leaned back onto the leather seat. "I'm going to call all of the hospitals and morgues in the area, check if dad's at any of 'em."

"You do that." Dean semi-shouted over the music and then continued bobbing his head along to it. Sam just smiled and shook his head before pulling out his phone.

Half an hour and nine phone calls later, and they were at the bridge where the latest 'accident' happened.

"Alright, so there's no one matching dad at the hospital or morgue, so that's something I guess."

"It's a start." Ivy agreed. Dean was about to comment on it, when he noticed the sheriff and other officers on the bridge.

"Check it out." He said and pointed it out to them before pulling slowly to a stop. Dean reached over into the glove-box and pulled out a small tin. He opened the tin, and Sam was shocked to see a bunch of fake ID's and badges. Dean took one out for himself and passed one to Ivy. "Let's go." He said and got out of the car.

Ivy got out of the car too, but then turned back to Sam who was still sitting there gobsmacked and said "you coming or what, Sasquatch?"

Sam sighed and got out of the car.

"No sign of struggle. No footprints. No fingerprints." The three hunters heard one of the officers say. "It's spotless. It's almost too clean."

"So this kid Troy, he's dating your daughter, isn't he?" the sheriff asked.

"Yeah." The other man replied.

"How's Amy doing?"

"She's putting up missing posters downtown."

"You fellas had another one like this just last month, didn't you?" Dean asked, putting on his 'mature' voice and interrupting their conversation.

"And who are you?" the sheriff asked.

"Federal marshals." Dean said, quickly flashing the sheriff his badge.

"You three are a little young for federal marshals, aren't you?"

"Thanks. That's awfully kind of you," Dean said with a chuckle. He walked a little towards the smashed car that was in the middle of the big bridge. "You did have another one just like this, correct?"

"That's right. About a mile up the road. There have been others before that." The sheriff confirmed.

"So this victim, you knew him?" Sam asked. The sheriff nodded.

"In a town like this, everybody knows everybody."

"Any connections between the victims; besides that they're all men?" Dean asked, inspecting the car closely.

"No, not so far as we can tell."

"So what's the theory?" Sam asked.

"Honestly, we don't know. Serial murderer? Kidnapping ring?"

"Well that is exactly the kind of crack police work I'd expect out of you guys." Dean said earning a kick in the foot from Sam and an elbow in the ribs from Ivy.

"Thank you for your time." Sam smiled politely. "Gentlemen." He nodded and the three of them started walking back to the car.

When they were at the end of the bridge, Dean smacked Sam and Ivy over the back of the head. Ivy sniggered and Sam yelped like a little bitch.

"Ow! What was that for?" Sam whispered loudly so they weren't heard.

"Why'd you have to step on my foot?" Dean argued back in the same tone of voice.

"Why do you have to talk to police like that?"

"Come on, they don't really know what's going on." Dean said and stopped walking right in front of Sam, turning to face his brother. "We're all alone on this. I mean if we're gonna find dad, we gotta get to the bottom of this thing ourselves."

Sam looked over Dean's shoulder and cleared his throat. Dean and Ivy turned around and saw two FBI agents standing behind them with another sheriff.

"Can I help you people?" the sheriff asked.

"No, sir. We were just leaving." Dean said and the two FBI agents continued to walk, Dean greeting them with a mocking "Agent Mulder. Agent Scully." And with that, he, Sam and Ivy left back to the car.

Later that day they ran into a gothic girl putting up 'missing' posters of Troy. They told her they were his uncles and aunt. They spoke to her and her friend, and the two girls told them a local legend of a girl who was murdered on Centennial a few decades ago. The ghost is said to be still out there, hitchhiking and whoever picks her up disappears forever. The hunters headed to the local library to dig up any information about her that they could.

'_Female murder hitchhiking_' was the first thing Dean typed into the search engine. No result. He tried again with '_female murder Centennial highway_'. No results found, once again.

"Let me try." Sam said, reaching for the keyboard but Dean smacked his hand away.

"I got it!" Dean said. Sam glared at his older brother and then pushed him out of the way. "Dude!" Dean exclaimed and punched Sam on the shoulder. "You're such a control freak."

Sam just ignored him. "So, angry spirits are born out of violent death, right?"

"Yeah." Dean and Ivy confirmed.

"But maybe it's not a murder." Sam said and typed in '_female suicide Centennial highway_'. One result found. He clicked on it and read the article. "This was 1981. 'Constance Welch, twenty-four years old, jumps off Sylvania Bridge, drowns in river.'"

"Does it say why she did it?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. An hour before they found her, she calls 911. Her two little kids are in the bathtub, she leaves them alone for a minute and when she comes back they aren't breathing. Both die."

"That's horrible." Ivy muttered and Sam nodded his agreement.

"'Our babies were gone and Constance just couldn't bear it.' Said husband Joseph Welch."

"That bridge look familiar to you?" Dean asked rhetorically, looking at the picture on the screen of the very same bridge they were on that day.

"I guess we need to pay it another visit." Ivy said to the boys, both of them nodding.

"So this is where Constance took the swan dive?" Dean said, leaning against the railing of Sylvania Bridge later on that night. They decided that night would be the best time to do it, since the cops would be gone.

"So you think dad would've been here?" Sam asked.

"Well he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him." Dean answered.

"Okay, now what?" Sam asked. He wanted to find their dad, but he also had a life to get back to. Dean would be fine with just Ivy.

"We keep digging until we find him. Might take a while." Dean said, obviously not caring about Sam's aforementioned life.

"Dean, I told you. I've gotta get back by-"

"By Monday. Right. The interview."

"Yeah."

"Yeah. I forgot. You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"You think you're just going to become some lawyer?"

"Dean," Ivy said sternly, trying to stop Dean from saying something he'll regret. Dean ignored her and pushed on.

"Marry your girl?" Dean continued.

"Maybe. Why not?" Sam responed.

"Does Jessica know the truth?"

"Dean!" Ivy snapped but her voice was drowned out by Dean's.

"Does she know about the things you've done?"

"No. And she's not ever going to know,"

"Well that's healthy. You can pretend all you want, Sammy, but sooner or later you're gonna have to face up to who you really are." Dean said and turned around, walking away from Sam. Sam followed after him and Ivy ran after the two of them.

"And who is that?"

"One of us." Dean said, still not looking at his little brother.

"No. I'm not like you." Sam caught up to Dean. "This is not going to be my life."

"You have a responsibility."

"To dad? And his crusade?" Sam rolled his eyes and scoffed. "If it weren't for pictures, I wouldn't even know what mom looks like. And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, mom's gone. And she isn't coming back."

All of a sudden, Dean grabbed Sam by the collar and smashed him against one of the steel posts on the bridge. What right did he have to talk about their mother like that? Yes, she was dead, and no, killing the demon that killed her wouldn't bring her back, Dean knew that. The least they could do was avenge her death. Get justice for what happened, and make sure it never happens again.

"Dean, let go of him." Ivy shouted at Dean, running up to the boys and trying the pry Dean away from Sam.

"Don't talk about her like that." Dean growled, ignoring the dainty hands that were trying to stop him from punching Sam in the face.

Ivy kept pulling at Dean, and suddenly she got a rush of strength. She felt truly powerful for the first time in her life. Not once had she felt so strong, not when she was holding a gun, not when she was killing demons. Never. She tried to pull Dean once again.

And Dean went flying.

She barely used any of her strength, but it was like she just became the hulk. She pushed Dean off of Sam as though he were made of cotton candy. Dean stood up and rubbed his now sore shoulder that he fell on.

"What the hell was that?" he asked Ivy in shock. Before anyone could ponder it further, Dean stopped in his tracks. "Guys." He said, looking straight ahead. Sam and Ivy followed his gaze and saw a lady dressed in all white standing on the railing of the bridge. The ghose of Constance Welch.

Her head turned slowly as she faced the three hunters. She looked them all in the eye, before gracefully falling off of the rail. Dean and Sam ran after her, as if to try and stop it although it was useless; she was already dead. The two of them looked over the railing but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd she go?" Dean asked.

"I don't know." Sam replied.

"Um, Sam, Dean…" Ivy called from behind them, her voice sounded scared. The two boys turned around and saw that the lights of the Impala had gone on. Suddenly, the loud rumble of the engine revving was heard.

"What the-" Dean started but trailed off.

Sam looked across at Ivy and asked stupidly "who's driving your car?"

Dean said nothing and just pulled his keys out of his pocket.

The car started to drive quickly towards them, and the three hunters broke into a run. They ran towards the side of the bridge, the haunted car following their every move, leaving them no choice but to jump into the river.

Sam managed to grab onto one of the railings and pull himself back up. Ivy landed hard on the half-soft dirt on the shore of the river, but Dean ended up falling straight into the murky, muddy waters of the river.

"Dean!" Sam called. "Ivy!"

Dean crawled out of the river, and Ivy sat up slowly, cradling her limp right arm in her left hand.

"Are you alright?" Sam called down to them. Dean made an 'ok' gesture with his hand and replied "I'm super."

"Ivy?" Sam called down.

"Yeah." She said, trying to keep her voice steady, but unfortunately it came out in a pained groan. "I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" Dean asked, crawling towards her. "You look like you're in pain." He added, noticing her wince.

"I'm fine. I just think I might've dislocated something." She said and used her good arm to push herself to her feet. "Come on, mud-boy." She said to Dean and headed back up to the bridge.

When they'd made their way back to Sam and the car, Dean said "Sammy, can you check out Ivy's arm? I need to make sure my baby is okay."

"Oh, sure, make sure the car's alright, I'm not as important." Ivy said in mock seriousness.

"Damn right, you're not." Dean said looking back at her, completely serious. Sam and Ivy chuckled as Dean opened the hood of the car. Sam walked over to Ivy and stood beside her.

"Which arm?" he asked.

"Right." She answered.

Sam lifted it up slowly and gently, so not to hurt her, as he inspected it.

"It's definitely a dislocated shoulder." He said.

"I thought so." She nodded.

"This is going to hurt a bit." He warned her as he pressed his body into her left side and gripped her right shoulder. He had to admit, it felt weird being this physically close to a girl that isn't Jess. It was quite an intimate thing, really, healing wounds. It wouldn't seem like it but they could both feel their faces heating up at the close contact. Sam actually felt guilty. He felt like he was cheating on Jess. Not because he was this close Ivy, but because he liked it. It didn't feel completely right but…

'_It doesn't feel wrong_.' His subconscious said.

Ivy snuck a peak up at Sam, although she wasn't sure why she felt the need to hide the fact that she was looking at him. Maybe it was because in this barely-there moonlight, she noticed how attractive he really was. He had a sharp jawline, pretty eyes, good cheekbones and a broad chest that she could feel every muscle moving in.

'_No, Ivy__-Jade Marie__ Carrigan. Stop. He has a girlfriend and you'll probably never see him after this hunt anyway_.' She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts, but it was Sam's voice that really snapped her back into reality.

"You ready?"

"Yeah, this isn't my first dislocation." She said coolly. Sam nodded and pulled up her shoulder, popping it back into place.

Ivy let out a small "Ah!" at the momentary pain, but it didn't feel as severe as all of her last dislocations. Come to think of it, that was a big fall, and she should've been more badly injured. She was glad she wasn't, but she should've been. And where did that burst of strength come from earlier? The feeling of empowerment? Nothing was making sense.

Sam realised he was still holding onto Ivy and quickly let go. He cleared his throat and in a purposely loud voice, asked "car alright?"

"Yeah." Dean said, wiping his hands on a dirty rag although it didn't really do much since he was covered head-to-toe in sewer-like river water. "Whatever she did to it, seems alright now. That Constance chick, _what a bitch_!"

"Yeah, well she doesn't want us digging around. That's for sure."

"Would you, if you were a ghost?" Ivy questioned, rubbing her shoulder. Dean sighed and the three of them leaned against the hood of the Impala.

"So where's the trail go from here, genius?" Sam asked Dean. Dean threw his hands up in the air and then let them fall back onto his knees, making a wet sort of clapping noise. He looked at his hands and flicked them, trying to remove some of the foul smell.

Sam crinkled his nose. "You smell like a toilet." He said to his brother, who shot him a death glare in return.

They walked back to a hotel, since Dean refused to get in his car smelling like shit and wouldn't let anyone else drive. It was light out by the time they got there. He dropped his credit card onto the front desk and said "one room please."

The old man at reception looked at the three of them with a curious look, probably wondering why one of them smelled like a dead skunk and was covered in dried up mud. He picked up the credit-card and looked at the name.

"You guys having a reunion or something?" the man asked?

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"That other guy, Burt Aframian. He came in and bought out a room for the whole month."

Dean and Sam looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"Well, yes." Ivy smiled broadly and clapped her hands together happily. "Yes, we are having a reunion. In fact, I'd love to surprise my dear old dad." She added a girly giggle, one Sam thought was way too girly to belong to her. "Would you be able to tell me which room he's in?" she finished, batting her eyelashes and still having that pageant-queen smile on her face.

"I'm not permitted to give out room keys to other guests." The old man said with a small frown.

"Oh, no, no of course not. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble! I just need the room number so I can go and surprise him." She said, using all the charm she could muster up.

"Let me check the records." He said and typed something into a computer. "Uh-huh. Burt Aframian, room number 10."

Ivy let out a happy squeal. "Thank you so much! Daddy will be so happy to see me." She waved to the man before walking away to room 10.

"You get our room, I'll meet you at room 10." She whispered to Dean so the old man couldn't hear her. Sam stood there, speechless, for a moment, absolutely shocked at what he just saw. Nothing that just happened seemed like Ivy. He hadn't known her for that long, but still.

"I had no idea you could be such a girl." Sam teased as he caught up with her. Ivy let out a laugh.

"I'm a hunter too, Sam. I need to know how to act," She shrugged and smiled.

Dean met up with them and easily picked the lock. They stepped inside the room and saw there were bits of paper stuck up on the walls, string pinned onto maps, salt circled around the door and old food all around the room.

"Ugh, I don't think he's been here for a couple of days. At least." Dean said after smelling one of the old burgers.

"Salt, cats-eye shells. He was worried." Sam said. "Trying to keep something from coming in."

Dean and Ivy looked at the pictures of the Centennial highway victims that were taped up on the wall, while Sam looked on the other side of the room at pages from books that had been ripped out and taped up. All sorts of pictures of demons were up there, though they were somehow relevant.

"I don't get it." Dean said. "They're different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection right?"

"Right." Ivy said. "We just need to find it."

"Dad figured it out." Sam said with a small, breathy laugh.

"What do you mean?"

"He found the same article we did. Constance Welch. She's our Woman in White."

"You sly dogs." Dean said looking back at the list of victims.

"Wait, what's a woman in white?" Ivy-Jade asked having never encountered one before.

"Uh, the spirit of a woman whose husband was unfaithful. Then, they'd go temporarily insane, murder their children and then kill themselves once they'd realised what they'd done. Now their spirits are cursed so that when they find an unfaithful man, they kill him and he's never seen again." Sam told her.

"Alright so if we're dealing with a Woman in White, dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it." Dean said.

"She might have another weakness." Sam said.

"Dad would wanna make sure. He'd dig her up. Does this say where she's buried?" Dean said.

"No, not that I can tell. If I were dad, though, I'd go ask her husband. If he's still alive."

"Alright, why don't you two see if you can find an address? I'm gonna get cleaned up."

"Hey, Dean?" Sam called, stopping Dean in his tracks. "What I said earlier about mom and dad, I'm sorry-"

Dean held up his hand, signalling Sam to stop and simply said "no chick-flick moments."

Sam huffed and nodded. "Alright. Jerk."

"Bitch." Dean said and continued on his way to the shower.

Ivy smiled at the show of affection between the brothers. It wasn't exactly how people would normally show they care, but what was 'normal' when you were a hunter?

Once Dean left, Sam noticed something on the mirror. He walked up to it and picked up a photo of him, Dean and their dad.

"What is it?" Ivy asked, walking up behind Sam and putting her hand on his shoulder.

"A picture of me, Dean and dad." He told her, pushing the burning sensation of her hand on his shoulder to the back of his mind.

"Appreciate it." She said sadly. "I'd kill to have a photo of me and my parents."

"What happened to them?" Sam asked.

Ivy shrugged and told him; "They're both dead. My dad first, when I was fifteen. He was hunting a Wendigo and... I guess it got the better of him," Sam thought there was more to the story than she was letting on, but he wasn't one to push. "And then vampires got my mom a little over a year ago now. Uncle Bobby took me in but after about a month, I started hunting with Dean and John. Now, here we are."

Suddenly, Sam felt even worse about everything he was saying about his own parents earlier. At least he still had one. Well, he thought he did. His stomach dropped at the thought of John being dead. Sure, he and his dad didn't always get along and his dad wasn't always there when Sam needed him to be but he didn't hate the man. He, Dean and Jess were the only family he had left. Now his dad was missing and all he was doing was complaining that it was taking up his time.

"Oh, looks like you have a new voice mail." Ivy said, seeing the screen of his phone light up.

"It's probably Jess," he told her, for some reason not wanting to hear it just yet.

"You should listen to it," she smiled and went to look around again, giving Sam as much privacy as was possible.

Dean came out of the bathroom, shrugging on his jacket.

"Hey guys, I'm starving. I'm gonna grab a little something to eat at that diner down the street, you want anything?"

"Yeah, I'll go with you," Ivy said, desperate to get away from Sam.

"No," Sam answered, barely paying attention to anything other than the voicemail from Jess. Even though her aim was to get away from Sam, Ivy was still a little disappointed that he didn't want to go.

"You sure? Aframians buying," Dean urged.

"Uh-uh," was Sam's reply.

Dean and Ivy left the hotel room but barely made it two metres before they were spotted by the cops. Dean sighed and took out his phone to call Sam.

"Dude, Five-O. Take off," he said.

"_What about you and Ivy?_"

"Uh, they kinda spotted us. Go find dad." Dean ended the call and turned around to face the police. "Problem officers?"

"Where's your other partner?" One of them asked, looking between Dean and Ivy-Jade.

"Partner? What partner?" Dean said with a small innocent smile. The one that spoke gestured for his partner to go and look inside.

"So, fake U.S. marshals. Fake credit cards. You got anything that's real?"

"My boobs," Dean and Ivy replied at the same time. Ivy rolled her eyes at Dean.

Of course, they ended up arrested.

Ivy was still being interrogated about why she wasn't in their database and blah, blah, blah, when the cop interrogating her got a 911 call. He asked if she needed to go to the bathroom and when she said no, handcuffed her to the table. She sighed and leaned back in her chair, looking around for something that she could use to pick the lock. She found nothing, well nothing in reach, and had given up when Dean entered the room.

"Dean!" She called quietly, "I've never been so happy to see you!"

"Well, I'm always happy to see you," he said with a flirty wink.

"I'm way out of your league dude," she shook her head at him as he proceeded to unlock her handcuffs with a paper-clip. As soon as she was free, they bolted out of the station and to the nearest phone booth.

"Fake 911 call, Sammy? I don't know, that's pretty illegal," Dean said with a smirk.

"_You're welcome,"_ came Sam's reply. Dean smiled, knowing that his brother was too.

"Look, we gotta talk,"

"_Tell me about it. Turns out the husband _was_ unfaithful. We are dealing with a Woman in White. She's buried behind her old house, so that should've been dad's next stop-"_

"Sammy, would you shut up?" Dean cut him off.

"Dean, what's going on?" Ivy asked him. He gave her a sad look and then went back to the conversation with Sam.

"_I just can't figure out why he hasn't destroyed the corpse yet,"_

"Well, that's what I'm trying to tell you. He's gone,"

"What?" Ivy gasped, "Dean what do you mean?"

"Dad left Jericho," He said to Sam, yet looking at Ivy.

"_What? How do you know?"_

"I've got his journal."

"_He doesn't go anywhere without that thing,"_

"Yeah, well he did this time."

"_What's it say?"_

"It's the same old ex-marine crap for when he wants to let us know where he's going."

"_Coordinates. Where to?"_

"I'm not sure yet."

"_I don't understand. I mean, what could be so important that Dad would skip out in the middle of a job? Dean, what the hell is going on – _whoa_!"_

"Sam? Sam!" Dean called into the phone after hearing the sound of tires screeching.

"Dean? What's wrong? What happened?" Ivy asked, but Dean just ignored her and continued calling out for Sam.

"Damn it!" Dean hung up the phone hastily.

"Dean! What happened?" Ivy snapped.

"I don't understand. I mean, what could be so important that Dad would skip out in the middle of a job? Dean, what the hell is going on," Sam said to Dean through the phone. When he looked back up at the road, the Woman in White was standing right in the middle of the road, _"whoa!"_ Sam slammed on the breaks trying not to hit her, but he did anyway, the car going right through her.

The car stopped, and Sam turned around to look in the back seat. Sitting there, ever so calmly, was the Woman in White.

"Take me home," she whispered in a seductive manner. Sam's face hardened. He knew what she was doing; trying to make him unfaithful, but he wouldn't. He loved Jessica more than anything.

"No," he said.

"Take me home," she said in a more determined manner.

"No," he said again.

Suddenly, all the doors locked and the car started to speed away on its own. Sam took the steering wheel, but let go as soon as he realised he wasn't the one controlling it. He tried to open the door, put on the breaks, anything but it was no use.

The car pulled up to an old, abandoned house that Sam realised to be the one Constance herself used to live in. The car stopped and the lights went out.

"Don't do this," Sam said, trying to speak to the good in her.

She just looked up at the house with a sorrowful expression.

"I can never go home," she said.

And then it hit Sam.

"You're scared to go home," he said and turned around once again, but she was no longer there. He looked around, only to find her sitting in the passenger seat of the car.

Her lustful gaze found Sam's panicked one. Using her ghost speed, she moved closer, until she was on top of him, grinding their hips together.

"Hold me, I'm so cold," she whispered and leaned down to kiss him.

"You can't kill me," he groaned out. She was using her powers on him; compressing his lungs so much he could barely breathe. "I'm not unfaithful. I've never been,"

"You will be," she whispered lowly into Sam's ear.

Sam's heart stopped for a second. He didn't think she was talking about herself. Did Women in White have the power to know if men are going to be unfaithful, even if they haven't yet? Sam's mind wandered to Ivy for a split second, but it was enough to make him feel guiltier than ever.

Constance leaned down and captured Sam's lips I a kiss; one that he refused to respond to. He used the distraction to reach behind her and try to turn on the car. She realised what he was trying to do and got angry. She disappeared and then Sam felt a burning pain in his chest. He struggled to remove his jacket, but when he did, he saw five holes in his chest – like a hand was trying to dig through his skin and rip out his heart. She flashed quickly in front of him, no longer looking young and beautiful, but angry and more like a monster. Out of nowhere, shots were fired and she disappeared again; along with the pain in Sam's chest.

Sam sat up quickly, turning on the car.

"I'm taking you home," he muttered and sped towards the house.

"Sam!" Dean called after him, although he seemed more worried that the car would be hurt.

"What the hell is he doing?" Ivy stressed as she watched the car demolish the entrance to the house. The two hunters ran into the house, Dean immediately going to help Sam, Ivy looking for Constance.

Dean helped Sam out of the wreckage and turned to see Constance standing before them with a deadly glare. She stepped aside and sent a chest of drawers flying towards them. Ivy shot at her twice, missing once. She appeared behind Ivy and was about to throw her into the wall when the lights started flickering. They all looked around and saw two children, dripping wet, standing at the head of the stairs.

"You've come home to us, mommy," they said together.

Ivy thought there was nothing freakier than children ghosts.

The two kids pulled her into a hug and Constance let out an ear-splitting scream as they all melted into the floorboards. Ivy ran over and helped push away the drawers that were pinning the boys to the car.

"So, this is where she drowned her kids," Dean deduced.

"That's why she could never go home," sam nodded. "She was too scared to face them."

"How'd you know that would work?" Ivy piped in.

"I didn't, just took a chance," Sam said.

"You 'took a chance' with my car?!"

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah, i guess it did. Nice work Sammy," Dean said, walking back to his car.

Sam let out a loud bark of a laugh.

"Yeah, wish I could say the same for you two," he commented, "what were you thinking shooting Casper in the face you freaks?"

Ivy smirked and crossed her arms over her chest and said in a smug tone "It worked, didn't it?"

"We saved your ass, and I'll tell you another thing. If you screwed up my car," he looked his brother straight in the eye "I'll kill you,"

Sam shook his head while Ivy rolled her eyes. She was sure Dean's relationship with that car was anything but healthy. Once they had pushed the car out of the house, Dean was pleased ot see thet his baby only had a few dents and a busted headlight. It was an easy fix.

They were back on the road on the way to Stanford when, Ivy sitting in the back, thinking deeply about what happened back at the bridge. Where did all that strength come from? She had some muscle and she knew how to fight, but she would never be able to beat Dean in an arm wrestle, let alone _throw_ him with barely a nudge. Sam was in the passenger seat, looking at the coordinates in John's journal with a map and torch in hand, trying to figure out where he was telling them to go. Dean was, of course, driving.

"Okay, here's where dad went," Sam said after a long time spent searching. "It's called Black Water Ridge, Colorado,"

Even the name gave Ivy goosebumps.

"Sounds charming," Dean quipped. "How far?"

Ivy sighed in the back seat, knowing where Dean was going with this. Why couldn't he accept that Stanford and Jessica were Sam's life now?

"About six-hundred miles,"

"Well if we shag ass, we can make it by morning," Dean silently suggested.

"Dean, I-um" Sam struggled to find a way ot let Dean down easily. Doing this again, with Dean, he had to admit he kind of missed hunting, but he had the law school interview to go to and he couldn't – no, _wouldn't_ – mess that up.

"You're not going,"

"The interview's in like ten hours," Sam said, as if that made it any better in Dean's mind. "I gotta be there,"

"Yeah," Dean looked back at the road, the hurt poorly masked. "Yeah, whatever. I'll take you home,"

Sam switched off the flashlight, guilt bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

The next few hours were completely silent.

They pulled into the hell-hole that had taken Dean's brother from him (otherwise known as Stanford) and Dean turned off the engine of his beloved Impala. Sam grabbed his bag and got out of the car.

He bent down to the opened window of the passenger seat. The brothers exchanged meaningful glances.

"You'll call me if you find him?"

Dean nodded, but Ivy could tell that he didn't mean it. Sam chose school, why should Dean bother him with the details of, oh say, whether or not their dad is dead. Besides, Dean still had his pride.

"Maybe I could meet up with the you later, huh?" Sam offered, glancing at Ivy to let her know that he was including her in the statement. In all honesty, Sam had missed his brother.

"Yeah, alright," Dean agreed, more or less to humor Sam.

"It was nice meeting you, Ivy," He smiled.

"You too, Sam. Good luck with your interview,"

Sam's chest tightened as he wished Dean had said that.

"You know we made a hell of a team back there," Dean said, stopping Sam from walking away.

"Yeah," the younger Winchester replied, the hint of a smile pulling at his lips.

Realising that was all Sam had to say and there was no changing his mind; Dean drove away.

"Dean? Do you wanna... Talk about it?" Ivy tried, but Dean was never the talking type.

"No," he said hastily and turned the car off.

"What are you doing?"

"_We_," He pointed between them "Are going to go and make sure Sam's alright,"

"What? We literally just left him,"

"I know, but i got a bad feeling,"

Ivy decided to go with him since his 'bad feelings' are usually always right.

They were just in the hall outside Sam's when they heard a scream of "No!" it was obviously Sam's voice and Dean left no time before kicking in the door.

"Sam!" He shouted as he and Ivy ran towards Sam's voice.

"Jess!" They heard Sm cry.

"Dean, in there!" Ivy pointed to a room with smoke coming out of the door.

Dean ran there, calling his brother's name. The room was on fire and he felt his stomach drop when he saw Jess burning on the roof above Sam's bed; just like their mum did. Dean and Ivy grabbed Sam, pulling and shoving him out the door, despite his resisting. The three managed to get out just before the rest of the room went up in flames.

As soon as they were outside, Ivy called 911 as Dean comforted his sobbing brother.

A few minutes later, the firefighters were there, along with a crown of curious bistanders. Ivy frowned, leaning against the Impala watching Sam as he carefully inspected every weapon in the trunk. He had stopped crying a few minutes ago, but now he was worse. He just looked numb.

"Sam, are you alright?" She asked softly. He shot her a hard glare. She pushed herself off of the car, holding her hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, sorry. Stupid question.

"Yeah, it was," He muttered, pulling out a shotgun.

"What I meant was, if you need to talk, I'm here," she placed a hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner, but he shrugged her off roughly.

"Don't touch me,"

'_I was just trying to be friendly_,' she thought bitterly, getting into the back seat and slamming the door closed.

Dean heard the door slam and approached Sam.

"What was that?" He asked, knowing Ivy didn't usually get that pissed without a good reason.

"Nothing," Sam said stonily, throwing the shotgun back into the trunk and closing it. "Come on," he said to his brother. "We've got work to do,"


End file.
